“I had no choice” – 64-Y-O security guard jailed 4 years, fined $3M for ganja possession


A 64-year-old security guard was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $3 million on Monday after pleading guilty to a narcotics charge when he appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Neville Roberts, a resident of New Amsterdam, Berbice, was charged with possession of four kilograms of marijuana.
The man was intercepted on January 28, 2025, at Merriman’s Mall, Bourda, Georgetown.
At court on Monday, the man appeared before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore who read the charge to him.
Upon hearing the allegations, Roberts entered a guilty plea. The magistrate advised him that by doing so, he would forgo a trial and face a mandatory prison sentence. Roberts acknowledged this before the court.
In his plea, Roberts expressed that he had been placed in a difficult situation, claiming he was driven to the act due to financial struggles.
The security guard explained that he had not received wages from his job since December 2024. “This situation was forced on me. I had no choice,” he told the court.
When questioned about any prior convictions, Roberts recalled being charged with damage to property in 2005.
During the proceedings, the prosecution detailed how law enforcement officers had approached Roberts at Merriman’s Mall and requested to conduct a search. He complied, and during the investigation, officers discovered a multi-colored shopping bag outside the building containing two bulky transparent parcels filled with leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be marijuana.
Upon his arrest, Roberts reportedly told police that he was in the process of transporting the parcels to a nearby club. He was subsequently taken to the Alberttown Police Station in Georgetown and formally charged.
The prosecution informed the court that one of the parcels had an estimated value of $1,230,000. Given the total weight of the narcotics found in his possession, Roberts was fined $3,690,000 in addition to his four-year prison sentence.
Authorities also reported that another individual, identified as 51-year-old Gary Hartman, a bicycle repairman with no fixed address, was arrested alongside Roberts. Hartman remains in police custody as investigations continue.